Merrimack Report

[JimC]

I know its not NH but its close enough for many to take advantage of. Things around here are just starting to pop.
Took Thank You Ann out for her first spin of the season. Fished upriver behind the islands from 5:30 to about 7:30 (when the cranking battery died.)Snuck home with the final tally of about 15 fresh fish 11" to about 20" with one fat 31"er in the 10# range. Oddly enough the fishing slowed as the water began to move.
The water upriver was slightly stained and around 58-59. Down toward the mouth it was closer to 55.

[fessiewig]

Thanks for the report Jim. You need to remember the Merrimack starts as the Pemigewaset at Profile Lake in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, so that makes it a local river. :D

[JimC]

:oops: Mea culpa... Pretty substantial oversight for someone with a MS in hydrology from UNH!
Anyway, its only going to get better around here for the next 6 or 7 weeks. The big girls are just around the corner.

[brucewo1b]

Catching scoolies in the Salmon Falls River where Rt 101 croses fom Eliot Maine to Dover NH today.

[Blake P]

Thanks for the info. I hafve only seen one boat fishing in the Piscataqa all week its nice to know there are fish feeding.
The only thing I saw was the gulls getting back into their feeding posts.
I think the larger ones will be here sooner than I thought. :D

[Venzulo]

Any good early season Fly/size recommendations? Or just stick to the basics? Going to be hitting Dover's Henry Law park hard over the next few weeks in search of an early season cow. Thanks-V

[JimC]

More of the same for me this morning, with a bunch of smallish fish in about an hour and a quarter's effort. Very cold wet and raw.

I've been fishing 3/0 Ray's Bucktails since the water is discolored and there are herring in the river systems.(Tail: Sparse white bucktail, under one white saddle tied in flat, a little flashabou, yellow saddle-flat, light blue saddle-flat. pearl body, yellow to light blue to dark blue, shoulders to top, white throat back to the bend). Check out Ray Bonderew's Stripers and Streamers for the complete pattern. It's become my early season go to fly over the past couple years.

[JimC]

Thought I'd update this report for some activity on the Board.
Things are warming up on the Merrimack. The debris has cleared after last week's NE blow although the water is still fairly stained. The morning bite has been reported to be mostly twinks. In fact I've never seen so many 11" fish! I've shifted over to fishing evenings given my schedule. We've had better fish up on the flats apparently getting ready to start the herring dropback feed. I've been covering as much ground as necessary to stay out of the micros and can now find more fish in the 18-24" range with occassional fish in the upper 20s and even a few 30-34" (10-12#). 5-6" herring flies will take alot of fish but you need to match the stained color of the water. Remember that silvery bait acts like a mirror in the water to reflect the color of its surrounding to blend into the background. Still fishing sinking heads even in 5' of water although I did get some surface action after dark last night.

Let me know if anyone is heading down this way and I'll contribure whatever up to date info I've got.

[fessiewig]

Jim,

Even though I don't fish saltwater, I've found your reports to be top notch! I, for one, would encourage you to continue to post salt reports. We can never have too much information. I'm assuming activity on the forums is low because fishing is in full bloom right now.

Thanks for your excellent reports.